The Art of Storytelling – Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

You can put this video in the ‘things I love’ category. Jackson Hole does a fantastic job of storytelling and this video is just another example of that. It has all, of the elements of a great story and the success can already be seen with over 150,000 views on Facebook alone in the first 24 hours.

What makes a great story?

1) Viewers Must Identify With The Story

If your viewers can’t see themselves in your story then you are dropping the ball. Wild Bill is instantly relatable. He tells a story about staying young, giving up the ‘traditional life’ and his spiritual journey. Who doesn’t connect with that! Why be relatable? Because the underlying message is that you can do that all at Jackson Hole, even if it is just for a weekend. If you customers can’t see themselves in the video, they won’t consider themselves at your resort (or using your product).

2) Support Your Local Hero’s – Be Authentic

When I was working in a brick & mortar bike shop back in New York we were a Specialized dealer. Specialized does a great job, of educating their dealers on ways to succeed. One of the points they always hammered home was to find your local hero’s and turn them into brand advocates for your store.

The ski industry is no different. You’re resort/brand is full of great story’s that are sitting right under your nose, tell their story. These local hero’s are already passionate about your brand, let them tell their story and highlight that passion for others to see and experience in their own way.

3) Seek The Best

Storytelling is hard. You need quality content producers to tell your local hero’s story well. For a piece of content to succeed it needs to be visually stunning and educational, inspirational, or entertaining. You need to find a balance between the two sides. A stunning video with no substance will not do well (Dare I say the 4th Phase?), just as a highly inspirational story with poor delivery will also flop. A quality content team will help you find, craft, and tell a story. However, you must listen to their advice as they are the experts in this field.

4) Distribution

This is not the field of dreams, if you build it then WON’T come. After your content is created you need a reliable content distribution strategy that includes earned, owned, and paid media. Encourage employees to share, local influencers, industry publications, season pass holders, athletes/ambassadors, partners & sponsors, and more. There is an extensive network out there to tell your story, you just need to cultivate it.

Conclusion

Search out the relatable stories of your own local hero’s. Allow them to share their stories through quality content creation and distribution. The formula is relatively simple, the execution is fairly hard.

What are your experiences with storytelling? What tips would you give to those dipping their toes in this type of content marketing? Leave a comment.